28/08/2026
Somewhere around week two of the holidays, meal times stop being meal times. Ice lollies at 11, tea at four, and dare we say, more snacks than you can shake a stick at. Then, seemingly from nowhere, school and nursery start again.
Swipe through for some small things that can help you with the transition. We can’t get anyone’s shoes on the right feet. But a freezer full of proper meals so you don’t have to worry about teatimes? That bit we can help with.
Start today
Start shifting meal and snack times back towards the routine a few days before term starts, not the night before.
Pack their lunchbox the night before, not in the morning. Anything decided at 7am under time pressure tends to be crackers and a banana. Sorted the night before, you can choose with care.
Let them pick one thing. A small choice, like which container or which fruit, can head off a surprising amount of the “I don’t want that” pushback in week one.
Water as the default again. Holidays mean more juice and squash by accident (days out, grandparents, ice cream vans). Getting back to water alongside meals is one of the easier resets.
Try new foods at home first, not at nursery. A food they’ve never seen before, is a lot to ask of a two-year-old at once. Trial it at the weekend so nursery lunch isn’t the first meeting.
Nursery-sized portions, not adult ones scaled down. Overfilling a lunchbox just means it comes home untouched and you’re left wondering if they ate anything at all. Be realistic, and you’ll end up saving food, time, and money.
The freezer stash. This is where your freezer earns its keep. A shelf of Joey’s meals tucked away means the rushed mornings don’t have to be chopping-board mornings too. Simply take something out the night before, and you’re ready to send off your little one off with a veggie-packed muffin or pancakes, or know you’ve got something quick and easy ready for teatime.
